The word 'critical" has three meanings which are dangerous, important, and disapproving. The purpose of this blog is to examine important or over-looked cultural, political, artistic, or historical issues of our time. Also, this blog is intended to be educational.

Friday, November 25, 2016

The Origin of Mankind

Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits.

- Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

On November 24,
1839, On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection,a ground-breaking scientific work by British naturalist
Charles Darwin, was published in England. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms
gradually evolve through a process he called “natural selection.” In natural
selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend
to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the
variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French
naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Robert Malthus,
acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying
expedition aboard the HMSBeaglein the 1830s. Visiting such diverse
places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate
knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information,
along with his studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to
England, proved invaluable in the development of his theory of organic
evolution.

Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck

Thomas Robert Malthus

Some of the Galapagos Islands

The idea of organic evolution was not new. It had been
suggested earlier by, among others, Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus Darwin, a
distinguished English scientist, and Lamarck, who in the early 19th century
drew the first evolutionary diagram, a ladder leading from one-celled organisms
to man. However, it was not until Darwin that science presented a practical
explanation for the phenomenon of evolution.

Erasmus Darwin

Darwin had formulated his theory of natural selection by
1844, but he was wary to reveal his thesis to the public because it so
obviously contradicted the biblical account of creation. In 1858, with Darwin
still remaining silent about his findings, the British naturalist Alfred Russel
Wallace independently published a paper that essentially summarized his theory.
Darwin and Wallace gave a joint lecture on evolution before the Linnean Society
of London in July, 1858, and Darwin preparedOn the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selectionfor
publication.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Published on November 24, 1859,Origin
of Speciessold out
immediately. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that solved so many
puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned the work as
heresy. Controversy over Darwin’s ideas deepened with the publication ofThe
Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex(1871), in which he presented evidence
of man’s evolution from apes.

By the time of Darwin’s death in 1882, his theory of
evolution was generally accepted. In honor of his scientific work, he was
buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures
from British history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology
led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin’s ideas remain
central to the field.

The most famous confrontation took
place at the public in 1868during
a meeting of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science, when theBishop of Oxford,Samuel Wilberforce,argued
against Darwin's explanation. In the ensuing debateJoseph Dalton Hookerargued strongly in favor of Darwinian
evolution.Thomas Huxley'ssupport of evolution was so intense
that the media and public nicknamed him "Darwin's bulldog". Huxley
became the fiercest defender of the evolutionary theory on the Victorian stage.
Both sides came away feeling victorious, but Huxley went on to depict the
debate as pivotal in a struggle between religion and science and usedDarwinismto campaign against the authority of
the clergy in education as well as advocating the ape as the origin of mankind.